Town Square

City to prune, remove trees north of downtown

Original post made
on Jul 17, 2013

The City of Palo Alto will remove 25 trees from the area north of downtown, mainly along University Avenue, and complete pruning work on other trees to ensure vehicle, pedestrian and building clearance, according to press release.

Posted by Not an issue
a resident of Community Center
on Jul 17, 2013 at 6:48 pm

Did you read the story, tree lover?
It states:
"Some of them will not be replaced because of conflicts with underground utility lines or competition from private trees and vegetation."
For some trees are more important than anything. Maybe the 4 trees that are public safety threats should be left standing.

Posted by concerned
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 17, 2013 at 7:20 pm

The "tree population as a whole in this area of the City is in good condition"? Compared to what and where? Maybe our expectations
have dropped. Also what role in the stress of the Magnolia trees
in particular has pollution, i.e the auto emissions from
stalled traffic along University Ave played? Also has the water
table dropped in this area? We need more information here.
"Tree City" is in trouble.

Posted by too many trees
a resident of Greater Miranda
on Jul 18, 2013 at 1:13 pm

"The war on trees continues. This is absolutely shameful."
There is no "war on trees" and it is the right thing to do.
Did you bother to read the story, Nora????

"complete pruning work on other trees to ensure vehicle, pedestrian and building clearance, according to press release."
"Four of the trees, magnolias located along University Avenue, will be removed soon due to public safety concerns. The trees slated to be removed have sustained decay, structural defects or long-term decline, according to the release."
""The fact that we have such a small percentage of tree removals that are needed indicates that our tree population as a whole in this area of the City is in good condition." "

War on trees, indeed. Anytime you talk about getting rid of diseased trees, you get people yelling and screaming.
One of the above posters was correct--there is an unhealthy obsession in town regarding trees. There are too many trees in Palo Alto and this is a good start

Posted by David
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 19, 2013 at 10:28 am

Kudos to our city urban forester, Walter Passmore, with the scientific facts (not just emosional feelings) to move forward with dealing with the mature tree issue in Palo Alto. Many cities in the SF Bay Area are having numerous trees reach their maturity and treaten the citizenry. Just like humans and animals, trees have a life span. They can not live forever event with appropriate arborculture practices.

Posted by more to this
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 21, 2013 at 9:27 pm

There is more to this than many Magnolia trees on University especially reaching their normal life spans, which for a Magnolia is
generally over 100 years. It could be poor soil, drought conditions
and a lowering water table, in combination with auto emissions
from stalled traffic on University, or possibly some other factor.

Posted by more to this
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 21, 2013 at 10:28 pm

The Magnolias are not deep-rooted, so the drought conditions
would affect surface moisture available to them more than any
changes in the water table. Also maybe cutbacks in irrigation by homeowners in lawn areas may be affecting some of these trees.